


The best is yet to come

by samariumwriting



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Autistic Felix Hugo Fraldarius, First Impressions, First Meetings, Gen, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25920142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samariumwriting/pseuds/samariumwriting
Summary: Annette and Felix's first impressions of each other weren't exactly positive. With time, however, that impression changed.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25
Collections: In Harmony: An Annette/Felix Zine





	The best is yet to come

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for the Annette/Felix zine In Harmony! I'm super happy I got to be a part of the project and contribute this piece.
> 
> (Also, there's a blink and you'll miss it reference to Felix being trans in this fic - I didn't tag it but it's There)

When Felix encountered Annette for the first time, he didn’t like her all that much.

In his defence, it was the day he moved into Garreg Mach. He wasn’t exactly at his best; he disliked travelling on horseback, everything was uncomfortably warm under all the layers he’d worn to make just the right first impression of his build, and he had a headache. Every sound was like a dagger driven straight through his head, and there were a lot of sounds.

On top of that, the presence of certain people he’d once called friends was… grating, to say the least. He hadn’t seen them in years, and there they were. Standing with his father, smiling and laughing along with that beast in a human skin. Just seeing him made something feel—he didn’t know. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it.

It wasn’t just them, either. On the other end of the courtyard, a girl with bright orange hair stood with two adults. Even from this distance, Felix could hear her cheery, high voice. She was smiling brightly, and as Felix watched, she effortlessly danced her way over to Ingrid to introduce herself.

Felix couldn’t hear the words being spoken, given all the words being thrown around in between, but from Ingrid’s returning smile, he could tell the girl said all the right things. It was nothing like the frown Felix had received in response to his own stilted greeting. He would be jealous at her ability if he cared at all about that kind of thing.

She returned to her family, stumbling over a handful of her own bags as she did so. She picked herself up with a laugh and another bright grin. She seemed… exhausting, honestly. How could one person be so cheerful?

He didn’t have the energy for someone like her at the moment. So, attempting to avoid her gaze, Felix picked up the last of his bags and made his way up the stairs to his room. The less he had to deal with someone with that much energy, the better.

* * *

When Annette first met Felix, she very honestly thought he was an asshole.

On the first night they all spent at the Officers Academy, the Blue Lions house leader (Prince Dimitri! The little awkward boy from her father’s stories, in the flesh, significantly bigger) suggested that they eat a meal together to try and get to know each other. And Annette, being the friendly and social person she was, was very happy to interact with her new classmates.

That said, it seemed like there was someone in their group who really didn’t want to talk to anyone else. If she’d heard correctly, Ingrid had called him Felix when he sat down, but he hadn’t said a word since. He sat at the edge of the table, several inches from Ashe, who was sat next to him.

He’d clearly already rebuffed Ashe’s friendliness, so maybe there wasn’t any point in trying, but… well, maybe Annette needed a distraction from the way Father had reacted when she waved to him across the courtyard earlier. So, she leaned over, smiled, and tried to catch Felix’s eyes. “Hey,” she said. Felix didn’t move. “Felix, right?”

Felix jolted slightly in his seat, and his eyes fixed on a point just over Annette’s shoulder. “Yes.”

“You’re from Faerghus, yeah?”

“I’m in the Blue Lions house.” Okay, rude. He was right, but still.

“Oh yeah, I probably should have guessed that one,” she said, trying to cover her blunder with a laugh. He didn’t smile in return. “Whereabouts in Faerghus?”

“Fraldarius,” he said. By now, his gaze had drifted back to his plate. Would it kill him to be a little more friendly? Maybe help her carry the conversation just a bit?

“Oh!” she said with a smile. “My father always used to tell me that the very best knights are all trained in Fraldarius, and—”

“Knighthood is an ideal for fools,” Felix said, interrupting her, and Ashe stiffened in his seat next to him. Okay, fine. He clearly didn’t want to be spoken to. That was his loss; if he wanted to be rude and antisocial, she’d just talk to someone a bit nicer.

Annette turned to Ashe and asked him about the book that sat in his lap. The gushing response he launched into was just about enough to put off the little twinge she felt at being treated so rudely by Felix, so she put him out of her mind for now. It didn’t seem like he was going to be in any way easy to make friends with.

* * *

When Felix made a decision on something, it was pretty difficult to change his mind. As such, he hadn’t expected his opinion on Annette to change.

At least, not until he went into the Knights’ hall after classes to practise his swordplay one evening. He couldn’t stand training in the same space as Dimitri for another second, so it wasn’t like he had any other options.

He wasn’t one to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to hear the tail end of Annette’s conversation with Gilbert—they were the only other people in the building. “Couldn’t you at least write to her?” Annette’s voice sounded across the room, high and shrill.

Felix squared up in front of the training dummy and tried not to listen to Gilbert’s reply. “It is not that simple, Annette. I apologise, I truly do, but—”

“Ugh!” Though he wasn’t looking, Felix could hear Annette stamp her foot in frustration. “Why do you always have to be like this? I can’t stand it.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Felix watched as, silently, Gilbert left the room. Annette let out another sound of frustration and whirled around to follow him. Without really thinking about it, Felix turned. “Annette, wait—”

“No, Felix, I  _ won’t _ wait to hear what you have to say about Father!” Annette snapped. “It’s none of your business.”

“I just—” But, true to her word, Annette wasn’t listening. She continued out of the room, acknowledging his words with only a huff. Fair enough.

Maybe Annette wouldn’t want him to dwell on the less than fantastic interaction, but he couldn’t help but think about it a little more. It was strange to see Annette like that, but it… made sense. She always seemed so completely perfect, incapable of doing any wrong. Even when she stumbled, it was endearing rather than irritating.

But this was different. This wasn’t Annette pleasing everyone effortlessly. Nor was it Annette breezing through life, loved by everyone and watching all the benefits of that fall into her lap without a second thought. This was… more complicated. Something Annette probably hadn’t wanted him to see, but something that formed a part of her anyway.

Maybe the cheer she showed to everyone else, the kindness she treated them with, didn’t come as easily as he’d initially thought. He could respect an effort like that.

* * *

Every day and every night at Garreg Mach was full of opportunities to learn more and work harder, and Annette was uncomfortably aware of the fact that she could only be here for a year. Because of that, even when she was exhausted right down to the tiniest muscle in her little toes after a long day of trekking and fighting, she was back in the library.

This late at night, she tended to be the only person there, bar maybe Claude or Lysithea. This time, however, she had company. She nearly jumped out of her seat when someone she had genuinely and honestly never seen in the library before entered the room: Felix.

Even in the low light of the library, she could see the way his hands were shaking slightly. She didn’t know why he was here, but… well, he was an asshole. She wasn’t going to bother him; he’d just snap at her.

He was probably looking for a book on… swords. Or being mean. Maybe an expert’s guide on being mean with a sword in your hand. Or two swords. Annette cast a furtive glance to her left to make sure that there were not, in fact, any books on swords near her, and very nearly sighed in relief when she confirmed that they were, in fact, about Enbarr’s economy in the 800s.

However, Felix didn’t go where she expected him to. He made a beeline for the shelf with faith magic books, picked two off the shelf, and sat in the furthest corner of the library possible; she could only even see him because he had the sense to light the lamp at his desk.

The hours dragged on, and eventually Annette decided that it was time for bed. There was no point attempting to study when her biggest challenge was keeping her eyes open. She stuck her bookmark in, gathered her papers, and moved to blow her lamp out. “It’s late,” she called, wandering closer to Felix’s desk. “You should probably get some sleep.”

“No,” Felix grumbled. His eyes were fixed on a worn book: ‘Healing Magic Basics’. Huh.

“It’ll make more sense after some rest,” she said, noticing that he was squinting just a little. “If you want it, I could help you with it tomorrow, too, or I could ask Mercie?”

“There’s no time,” Felix snapped. “I have to do this now.” His fingers flexed against the cover of the book, and while his voice was tight and angry, there was… something else too.

That was when she remembered what had happened earlier. They’d been fighting those bandits, and for a while, everything was fine. But then the Professor took Sylvain and Ingrid off on the side path, and both of them had been pretty badly injured. It had been touch and go for a moment as to whether they’d make it. And while a moment was just that, a moment, she now remembered the cadence to Felix’s voice when he demanded that Mercedes cast physic.

Oh. “You know, Felix, you’re much more caring than you give yourself credit for,” she said.

Felix’s whole body stilled as he processed her words. “Shut up.”

In the past, she would have called him mean for saying it. She was being nice, after all— she was paying him a compliment! But he was kind and he was  _ embarrassed  _ about it. So she didn’t say a word as he stood and put the book back on the shelf.

“I’m going to bed,” he announced to the otherwise empty room. “You should too. It’s been a long day.”

Yep, Annette thought, smiling to herself. Felix was definitely a lot nicer than he wanted anyone to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Ty for reading! If you enjoyed, a comment is very much appreciated. I also have a twitter @samariumwriting where I tweet about writing a lot!


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